Dedicated dairy farms: a community committed to fighting climate change

30 dairy farms are working with Logiag, Régénération Canada and General Mills to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. All of them are working together for the climate – and it works!

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Climate change affects everyone. That’s why it works particularly well when everyone does their bit to tackle this crisis. That’s what Dedicated Dairy Farms is all about: a unique project that brings together some thirty dairy farmers, agrologists, an agri-food processor and a non-profit organization committed to regenerative agriculture.

An unprecedented collaboration

Planned to last at least five years, this collaboration enters its third year in 2024. Dairy farmers are working with General Mills, the American company that markets Liberté brand yogurts. More concretely, General Mills finances agronomic support for the farms, from measuring their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to implementing climate transition practices.

In the field, the expertise comes from Logiag’s agrologists. Working with their colleagues on the climate transition team, they help farms complete their GHG inventories, assess soil organic carbon (SOC) and introduce new practices. Finally, Logiag tracks the farms’ GHG reductions and SOC increases, with the aim of valorizing them.

The third partner involved is Régénération Canada. This non-profit organization invites producers participating in the project to join a community to share their experience and knowledge.

A project that meets producers’ needs

“This project is a good way of finding out where we stand in terms of GHG emissions, and finding ways to improve,” says Christian Brault, co-owner of Ferme Brault et Frères, which raises around 250 cows as well as heifers, and farms 240 hectares. It’s hard to know if you’re really good when you don’t have numbers!”

For Middleview Farm, the Dedicated Dairy Farms project aligned perfectly with the owners’ values. “ It helps us put in place practices we were already thinking about, like windbreaks and green manure,” explains Shannon Breault, second generation producer of this Montérégie farm that raises around 200 cows and heifers, in addition to cultivating 215 hectares.

A global strategy, concrete actions

In the field, the fight against climate change varies from farm to farm. Each farm chooses its transition practices according to its soil type, constraints or business objectives. However, against all expectations, simply leaving motorized equipment in the garage more often is not enough to really reduce the farm’s GHG emissions or increase its SOC.

The transition to a low-GHG-emission farm relies on a few key practices, such as ensuring better manure management, adding forages to rotations, paying greater attention to animal health and longevity, and coordinating more closely the barn and the field. In short, the Dedicated Dairy Farms project looks at farms as a whole, in order to suggest a coherent game plan rather than disparate measures whose effects could cancel each other out.

Ultimately, it’s all of the practices that contribute to the fight against climate change, because they restore water and soil quality, enhance the farms’ internal resources and increase their efficiency.

To date, the 30 farms involved have completed their first GHG emissions inventories, measured their SOC and are beginning to plan the implementation of their transition strategies.

Towards more resilient, greener farms

These producers are true pioneers. The fight against climate change in the agri-food industry has only just begun. So it goes without saying that it raises questions and presents challenges!

“The project does challenge us,” confirms Christian Brault. “For example, I no longer grow hay, which is a weakness for a farm that wants to combat climate change. But challenges are also what motivate me: when I run out of them, I’ll stop working!”

By collaborating with a nonprofit, an agri-food processor and agrologists, Dedicated Dairy Farms is betting on the strength of a team to review the farms’ practices and chart a course for the future. And it’s working, as this unprecedented collaboration is already entering its third year.